I am back once again to entice all of you to join me in my obsession with TikTok by bringing you the top trends dominating my current algorithm. TikTok continues to eat away hours of my life—just call me Alice the way I am taking you down this rabbit hole. It’s embarrassing how many times I’ve skipped that annoying video that suggests you “take a break” because “you’ve been scrolling for too long”. It’s the same feeling as when Netflix asks you “if you’re still watching”—obviously I am, and I could do without the judgment.

It’s my personal mission to curate my FYP to deliver only the best content to all of you. The hours I devote to this mission are all for you. It’s not a problem… I’m doing it for you. It is a thankless job, but I am determined for the cause. 

You’re very welcome, and I hope you enjoy my picks.

OOTD in Punjabi

This trend gained momentum with Divya Kapoor in the past month as other Punjabis hopped on to show off their linguistic skills with an accompanying OOTD. She uploaded a video in which she tries to show off her outfit while speaking extremely broken Punjabi. The comment section passes the vibe check (mostly) as people encourage her while trying to decipher what she is saying. This side of #DesiTok is equally hilarious and endearing.

People with varying Punjabi speaking skills have tried their hand at an OOTD in Punjabi. It’s heartwarming to see people feeling proud and relating to one another on the basis of a shared albeit broken native language.

Oftentimes, those who are unable to speak Punjabi fluently feel embarrassed to try, especially on such a public platform, as many of Divya’s followers have admitted in her comment sections.  It’s interesting to see the exchange of dialogue in the comments of these videos.

Some people include their friends, siblings, cousins and even parents in the videos. It’s all in good fun but it’s nice to see how a random trend on TikTok can have an impact on a language by making it less daunting.

Lil Wayne’s “Top 5” sound

This trend uses a sound bite cut from a Tim Westwood TV interview with Lil Wayne back in 2009 when he was performing in London. The interviewer reads the list of top 5 rappers (at that time) to Lil Wayne, who is astonished that Gucci Mane made the list over Eminem.

The virality of the sound comes from its simplicity and versatility—It can be used to discuss a variety of things, from the best cities to  workplace disparity. My personal favourite use for this sound is dragging men and women for their toxic traits. A close second is using it to describe your roster because #hotgirlsummer is approaching.

Basically if something can be devised into a surprising list of “top 5”—this sound is perfect. 

“Crazy” by Patsy Cline

This sound is a short snippet from an old country song, “Crazy” from 1962 by Patsy Cline, in which a woman sings the word “crazy”. That small part of the song is cut out and made into a sound that people are using to describe the “craziest” things they have done.

I will warn you that this trend requires more reading than most. Sometimes the description of the “crazy” takes up the whole screen with text but I assure you it is worth it—people are wild.

I cannot believe some of the things I have read, which have subsequently led me down a long path of story time videos and long winded explanations that are not guaranteed to be as satisfying as I had hoped. You win some, you lose some.

I am not thrilled with the use of the word “crazy” in this context but it’s TikTok—can’t take it too seriously. The most interesting part for me was the varying degrees of what people thought to be “crazy”. There is a huge disparity in the threshold for what the word means. I found myself thinking, “that’s not that crazy,” for a few of them, only to be proven wrong by the comment section. 

It made me question whether I am crazy—but I decided against opening that can of worms. 

“This is perfect” sound

The original video with this sound is no longer available, and I am not sure where the sound comes from either, but it is being used one of three ways: pet content, describing something that actually feels perfect, and sarcastically describing an inconvenience as perfect.

There are so many wholesome videos of pets living their best lives and the sound is perfect (pun intended) for it. I will always seek out more dog content, and I am so glad this trend brought me closer to #PetTok.

People are using it to describe small joys in life that make you feel like everything is perfect—even if momentarily. A TikTok of a woman getting her Starbucks order made perfectly on a nice sunny day transported me to that joy and perfection that she felt. It just made sense.

My personal favourite use of this sound is when it’s used sarcastically because sarcasm is my Achilles’ heel. It is so funny when people describe small inconveniences that feel like the end of the world using this sound. I exclusively use the word “perfect” with a very specific tone to describe things that are anything but.

For example, you rearrange your entire day to accommodate one person and they cancel last minute – perfect. You go for a walk because it's a nice sunny day in Vancouver but it randomly starts hailing in the middle of your walk – perfect. Brb, gonna make a TikTok about that right now. 

“I’ve been going out with Nick Nelson” sound

Disclaimer for those with jaded hearts—this is a very cute and wholesome couples’ trend so you might hate it but try being happy for others. I've been told it’s good for the soul or whatever, but don't take my word for it. Delve at your own risk.

This sound is from the audio version of the Heartstopper comics by Alice Oseman, where a young boy in high school describes his boyfriend who he has been dating since he was 14.

People have photos and videos of their significant others over the sound in an effort to describe them, which makes for a very cute and wholesome trend.

I find this sound to be very soothing, possibly because of the voice actor’s tone of voice. The style of the video also feels really calm, and almost relaxing.

Unfortunately, you don’t see this sound being used a lot on #DesiTok or #BrownTok because most of us don’t feel comfortable showcasing our relationships to all the chachis and tayis that frequent TikTok as well. Lord forbid your family finds out about your secret boyfriend from the Nick Nelson video you made trying to be cute on TikTok. I wouldn’t wish that fate on my worst enemy.

I tried to make one of these and gained a new appreciation for those who have because it takes a lot of time. Who has all these perfectly curated photos and videos of their significant others just ready to go? It is not easy work to dig through 3000 photos and videos on your phone for one TikTok. Kudos to all y’all.

That's all for this time! Happy scrolling.